1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outdoor-use heating mat system subjected to pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic and configured for keeping itself essentially free of ice and/or snow.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an attempt to keep areas such as steps, sidewalks, driveways, ramps, decks, balconies, porches, bridges, walkways, or other surfaces subjected to pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic clear of snow and/or ice during wintery conditions, various heating mat systems have been developed for use on such surfaces. Such heating mats typically have a heating element embedded between layers or a matrix of a durable, electrically-insulating material. The heating mats of such systems are often configured so as to be capable of being electrically interconnected and, in some instances, mechanically interconnected.
One problem that exists with heating mat systems of the prior art is that the heating element tends to be mounted within these mats in such a fashion so as to potentially be weight-bearing as traffic proceeds across the mat. That the heating element may have to bear a significant amount of weight can pose a problem in an instance where the heating element material is not as durable as the outer covering materials. Further, the heating element may be quite possibly be the portion of the mat most prone to wear and/or breakage and potentially the most costly component of the entire mat, both to originally produce and possibly replace. Furthermore, depending on how the mat is constructed, replacement of a worn or failed heating element may not be possible.
It is known in the prior art to use a temperature control system with respect to an outdoor heating mat. Such a thermostat is typically designed to supply a given amount of power to each heating element section within the heating mat. However, in actual operation it may not always be necessary to heat each and every element portion (at least not to the same degree) within the mat, in order to achieve sufficient melting of ice and/or snow thereupon.
What it needed in the art is a system for encasing the electrical element of the heating mat in such a fashion that reduces or eliminates the amount of weight that the heating element must bear when the mat is subjected to traffic.
What is further needed in the art is a series of heating elements which can be selectively activated by a thermal control (e.g., in a free element system, one, two, or three of the elements can be activated to thereby allow for low, medium, and high heat settings), thereby allowing for greater control over the amount of power to be consumed by the heating mat.